Well I've wrapped up another great week of teaching here in Wroclaw. It was a bit of an eye opener though for a couple of reasons. I realized something this week; teaching social studies has challenges that no other discipline does. We have to cover some really, really heavy stuff in this class that can tug on human emotions pretty strongly.
As mentioned, I am teaching the Holocaust to the grade 8's while I am here. When I found this out back in Victoria, it was a little overwhelming, but I really felt up for the challenge. Especially because this unit includes a three day trip to Krakow and Aushwitz coming up in 2 weeks! So I did all of the normal, super keen student-teacher stuff. I planned, picked great texts, thought up different ways to assess. I even got to write some IB Curriculum on the Holocaust that future teachers can use. But when the wheels hit the pavement, my initial gusto hit a roadblock.
Do you know how hard it is to sit there and try to educate a bunch of wide-eyed 14 year olds about the ugliest corner of the twentieth century? Let me tell you, its REALLY freakin' hard. It physically drains you. Added to the fact was that this week had a double period where I was formally assessed! That sure ratcheted up the stress level nicely. And you have to make sure the kids understand the gravity of this historical event too, so you kinnda create this somber mood in the class that also has a big effect on everyone. Do kids have to leave you class depressed in order to have had a successful lesson in teaching the Holocaust? I don't know. Depends which part you're teaching, I guess. In All in all, I can tell this will be a very demanding, very long unit.
So I was really looking forward to this weekend to regroup and rest. But I completely forgot about May Day, and now everything is shut down for who knows how long here behind the Iron Curtain. Looks like all I will be doing for a while is enjoying a Zubr , catching up on sleep, planning for my upcoming trip to Prague and maybe even streaming some hockey if I am lucky. I feel as though I've earned this one.
Not an easy topic to teach.
ReplyDeleteHow is the English level of your students? Do you find vocabulary and comprehension a challenge? Language is one of the main challenges here.
Well there is only one native english speaker at the school, so its ESL city for sure. I read what you wrote about your students how they know all the technical jargon, but have little vocab of life outside the classroom.
ReplyDeleteIts different here because the student body comes from around 30 different nations at this school. So once they are out of the classroom, and they want to talk to one another, they kind of have to default to english cause everyone's mother tongue is completely different. I think thats why they have a really holistic grasp of the language.
But what I've been doing is stopping my lesson whenever I use a strange term (yesterday it was 'doo-dads'... no one had a clue!) and defining it on the spot. Seems to be working well enough
Dood dad, haha. Thats a great word.
ReplyDeleteHey listen buddy, your doing great. No doubt that would be a hard lesson to teach, its also a lesson that really close to home for them. I mean really we talk about it here in Canada, but many of our expiriences are negotiated by alot of distance and old watered down stories. (and awknowledging that we are all affected and that thier is a great deal of people very closely connected to it as well)
My heart goes out, and good on you for stepping up for the challenge. Stay free miss you bro..
Thanks for the support Mat! See you in four weeks!
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